Traction-rope railway



2 Sheets-Sheet `1.

S.H.TBRRY.

n li

ATTORNEYS. l

TRAGTION ROPE RAILWAY.

(No Mpael.)

NA PETERS. Pham-Lnhogmpher. wnshngmn. D. CA

2 Sheets-,Sheet 2.

(N0 Model.)

S. H. TERRY..

TRAGTIUN ROPE RAILWAY.

Patented Sept. 27,

VIII/ll INVENTOR 2 ATTORNEYS.

5 WITNBSSES I N. PETERS Pnom-Lnhcgmpl rlJNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

SAMUEL H. TERRY, OF QUTHRIE, MISSOURI.

T'RACTION-ROPE RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,523, dated September 27, 1881.

I Application filed November 23,1880. (No model.) i

, in a tunnel or gutter placed below the ground.

The difficulties experienced in operating such railways, and which my improvements are calculated to obviate, have arisen from the open gutter and at the intersections and crossings ofthe railways.

My invention consists in a gutter' or tunnel Vof novel construction,which allows water to pass off readily and permits flushing to remove refuse; in independent swinging covers which close the top of the gutter closely and are opened in succession as the cars move along the track; in clutches of novel construction attached to the cars,and in certain other features,

which will be described in detail hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view, showing a section of a railway enibodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the railway and a car. Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse section of the road and car,looking at the back of the clutch. Figft is a cross-section of the road and end view of the car. Fig. 5is ahorizontal section of the clutch on line 0o x of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the clutch, with the road shown in section at a crossing; and Fig. 7 is a cross-section of the road on line y y of Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

At a t are shown the rails of the road,- laid -upon cross-ties, as usual, and c a are the rails which is to have suitable outlets, as shown at cl2, connected with a sewer, and the bottom plates, d, of the gutter have openings at intervals to allow escape of water and refuse to the water-way.

At e e' are the traction -ropes, extending through the gutters. TheseA are supported above the bottom plates, d, by rollers f, placed at suitable intervals and at suitable angles, ac-

cording to the direction ofthe track. These ropes are to be driven by stationary engines arrangedin any desired manner. At the crossing the under ropes pass beneath and the upper rope between beveled guide-plates g,which act to relieve the clutches at the crossing, as hereinafter described. To prevent 4the rope rising by the strain, holders g', Figs. l and 7, are placed at intervals, which consist ot' bars pivoted at their mid-length within the gutter,

in position for being turned with either end over the rope, the ends having beveled projec tions, by which the clutches move the holders g as the car passes.

The gutters B are covered by plates h, of suitable length, which iit ill raboets formed in the upper edges of the sides c c', so that the plates lie iiush; and the plates are separately pivoted to lugs formed at intervals on the rabbcted edge of one side, c or c', so that the covers open upward. These covering-plates may, however, be fitted to swing sidewse, or slide bodily sidewse, instead of swinging upward; and I do not limit myself in that particular. At the intersection of the tracks the coveringplate h is hinged to the adjacent end of plate h, so as to swing thereon to allow the clutch to pass through one gutter, and swings with the plate h, to which it is hinged, to allow the clutch to pass in the other gutter. The gutter is thus covered at -the intersections, and this construction is applicable to any angle of crossing orjunction.

. The cars are connected to the rope by clutches placed beneath the cars and fitted for operation from the platforms to catch and release the rope, as next described.

At G is represented a car, supported on the track by its wheels i i. Beneath the car is a frame composed of rods 7c, fixed at their ends to heads 7c', and sustained by a bracket, l, at one end of the frame, and 'a link, l', at the other end. The connection between bracket l and the head 7a at that end is made by a flexible joint, 1n, which may, if preferred, be aball and socket, the connection of the bracket with the car being a knuckle-joint. The link l', at the other end, is attached to the car-bottom by a knuckle-joint, and slotted at its outer end to receive pins projecting from head k. This construction allows vertical and transverse movement of the frame on thejoint 1n, so that the clutching mechanism carried by the frame shall not be thrown out of place by oscillations ofthe car caused by irregularities of the track.

Upon rods 7c is tted a slide-block, 11, and around the middle rod is a spiral or other spring, 1L', tending to force the block 1t toward the mid-length ot' the car.

To the block 11 is fixed a standard, o, to which is hung by a knuckle-joint, o', at their midlength, a similar standard, p. The lower ends of the standards op extend into the gutter B and terminate at opposite sides of the tractionrope. These ends are mortised to receive the clutching devices, which, as shown, consist of wedges q q, Fig. 5, fixed on arms q', that project from a spindle, 1', tted in bearings on the back ot' the standards o p, so that the wedges can slide in and clamp the rope between them, and outward to release the rope. The spindle 1- has also an arm, 1", from which a rod, s', projects to and is joined to a slide, s, that is hung between the standards by a link, s2, so as to be capable of vertical movement. The lower end of slide s terminates in a flan ge extending horizontally between the standards above wedges q. Through its upper end extends one fork of a forked rod, t, the other fork of which is sustained in the fixed standard o. The forked rod t passes loosely through the standard o and slide s, so as to be adapted to raise or lower the latter. The forward end of the rod is sustained by a hanger attached to the car-platform and carries a toothed segment, t', that is engaged by a pinion, u, on the lower end of the brake-shaft a. From the lower part of standard o inclined flan ges 12 1J project in the direction of the gutter and terminate below the hinged covers, so as to raise the covers successively as the car moves along. A springarm attached to the standard may be used to press the covers down after the clutch has passed.

The operation is as follows: To connect and start the car the brake-shaft u is turned to turn pinion u and the segment t', and rod t being thereby turned, the slide s is moved down and spindle 1' thereby turned to throw wedges q into the mortises of the standards and clamp the rope. This movement of the wedges being in the direction the rope is moving, the wedges are drawn tightly, andthe standard p being hinged to the standard o, its lower end is kept toward thc said standard o by the slide s, whose wedge-shaped upper end, when it is depressed, wedges apart the correspondinglyshaped upper ends of said standards. The

standard p will give way to the draft of the rope and prevent shock by the block 11 having a yielding engagement through spring 1t' with thecar. The iirst action ot' the rope is to move slide 11 forward on rods L against the spring, which, being of suitable strength, takes the tractive power partially until the inertia ot' the car is overcome, and it moves at the same speed as the rope. As the car moves along, the forward flange, 1;, passing beneath the covers, opens them in succession and holds them until the standards pass, the rear flange, c, allowing the covers to drop gradually. When the car reaches a crossing the bottom ilange ot' slide s comes in contact with the top of guides'g, said slide being thereby raised, the wedges thrown back, and the rope thereby released. While the car is passing the standards op also ride upon the guides g, and being lifted thereby pass over thecrossingcable,the ileXible connection of the frame of rods la with the car permitting the same. As soon as the slide and standards pass the guides those parts come down by their weight in readiness to clamp the rope. To obtain space for this operation the lower rope maybe depressed and held down by rollers at the crossing. To release the clutch from the rope the brake-shaft Will be'turned back, which will throw back the wedges and raise the slide. The slide s may be fitted with projections, preterablyinclined, to engage the lower ends of the standards as it rises and spread them apart. in such manner that its first movement shall release the clutch, as mentioned, and afurther movement apply the brakes. The covers h prevent dirt and mud from entering the gutters, and serve also to prevent wheels of vehicles from entering the gutter. The waterway serves to keep the gutter free from water, and permits the flushing of the gutter with water to clean it.

I do not limit myself to the details of con struction exactly as described, as they may be varied within the scope of my invention.

I am aware that cables have been used with tubes longitudinally slotted on top, and with longitudinal timbers forming a gutter beneath it; also, that troughs provided with flexible hinged valves or covers are not broadly new 5 but What I claim as my invention is l. In traction-rope railways, the gutters or tunnels B, for the traction-rope, having apertured bottom d, and provided with water-way d beneath the bottoni and under the cross-ties, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The compound hinged covering-plates h h', combined with the intersecting or crossing gutters B', substantially as shown and described, for the purposes specified.

3. I n traction-rope railways, the pivoted bars g, combined with gutter B and traction-rope c, when fitted for movement by the clutch of a passing car, as specified.

4. The beveled guides g, combined with the The brake'shaft will be arranged IOO IIO

vIo

traction-ropes e e', when placed to relieve the rope from the clutches of a passing car, substantially as shown and described.

5. The frame of rodsk,heads lo', spring-slide n, carrying the clutching mechanism, bracket l, having the flexible joint m, and link Z, cornbined together and With the car C, substantially as shown and described.

6. The standard o, provided with inclined anges o and carrying clutches at its lower end, combined with a car, a gutter or tunnel, B, having movable coveringplates h and tractionrope passing through the gutter, substantially as shown and described.

7. In tractionfrope railways, the'clutching mechanism consisting of fixed standard o, pivoted standard p, Wedges q,spindle r, carrying the wedges, slide s, connected to the spindle, forked rodt, segment t,.pinion u, and operating-shaft u', combined together and with the car, substantially as shown and described, for operation as specified.

8. In traction-rope railways, the combination of a gutter or tunnel having its upper side closed byacover arranged in short hinged sections, a moving traction-rope within the gutter, and a car or cars provided with devices forclutching the rope and opening the sections of the gutter-cover as the car passes, substantially as shown and described.

SAMUEL HOPKINS TERRY.

Witnesses: y

M. F. GUTHRIE, E. O. FoGERsTRoM. 

